good morning everyone and welcome to "news4 midday," i'm haley barbour, and it's thursday, march 22, 2012. we're working to learn more about a pregnant woman stabbed in southeast d.c. it happened 2:30 a.m. on ninth street. police tell us that she was eight months pregnant and stabbed in the stomach. >> reporter: friends and family of the victim tell us she was brought to howard university and is now under observation. d.c. police tell us she's in stable condition. it started overnight southeast.

one neighbor tells us while she's not sure where the stabbing initiated. she said she found her neighbor bleeding and lying in the hallway while she was screaming for help. she said she was bleeding from her stomach. police have confirmed it happened in the 4200 block of ninth street in the victim's southeast apartment building. they say the victim was stabbed in the stomach. she is eight months pregnant. at this point, no word on the status of her baby and d.c. police say they don't have a suspect in custody. in northwest, i'm tracee wilkins, news4. and hours earlier, police received a call for a triple stabbing in northeast washington. three females were stabbed near trinity university on rhode island avenue northeast. one victim is 17 years old. paramedics found all the victims on nearby franklin street. the victims' names are not being released. police tell us the person arrested is juvenile and female. all of the victims are expected to survive.

investigators are now trying to figure out a motive. and new today, a 32-hour standoff in southern france ends in a hail of gunfire. and the gunman is dead this morning. police special forces raided the apartment where mohammed merah had barricaded himself for two days. before the raid, officials reported there were no signs of life overnight, as they entered, they used cameras to try to locate merah. it was then that the gunman burst out of the bathroom. police say with guns blazing. as police returned fire, merah jumped out of a window to his death. two police officers were injured. police say merah admitted to killing three french paratroopers and three jewish children and a rabbi in two separate shootings. and right now, the national park service is announcing new services to the cherry blossom festival to make things even more visitor-friendly. the park service has put up signs to visitors can take a walking tour along the tidal

basin and have gone high-tech offering a mart foen app offering people a map of the festival and nearby points of interest. we'll is more on the great new services for the 2012 cherry blossom festival. we have cloudy skies out there right now. and it looks like a good day to go out to the cherry blossoms to take a look. we don't have any rain falling at this time. let's check in with storm 4 meteorologist veronica johnson for the first forecast. >> no, we do have not have any rain falling right now. but it's been a misty morning and folks have been down at the tidal basin getting some real interesting photos with the fog behind the blossoms. i want to take you back to 5:00 this morning to show you the visibilities, they were low so many counties, so many neighborhoods, gaithersburg, into culpepper and fredericksburg. then we drop down to zero-mile visibility in culpepper around d.c. it was a very foggy morning. right now we're seeing the fog lift. we should be seeing more

sunshine, i think on the other side of 12:00. some clearing taking place, west of frederick, around front royal and just to the west of charlottesville. so i think we'll have a partly sunny sky later this afternoon. that will help to warm us up. yesterday we hit our high of 70 degrees, it wasn't until 5:30 in the afternoon. today, 77 and should come a little earlier for 3:00, 5:00, it will be in the mid and upper 70s. a few locations to the south and west, maybe even culpepper, charlottesville and fredericksburg, maybe 80 degrees or 80-plus. for the weekend, especially saturday, the tease for you here is some stormy weather. i'll give you the details on how bad it could be, coming up. >> thank you, we'll see you in here shortly. and unexpected speed bump for drivers early this morning on the southeast-southwest freeway. drivers westbound near maine avenue had to avoid debris. it appears asphalt fell off the back of a truck and hardened.

causing three drivers to get flat tires. crews had to block the far right lane of the freeway to keep drivers from hitting the asphalt. luckily no one was hurt. outrage over the death of trayvon martin continues to grow. the florida teen was shot and killed by a community watch volunteer. today, reverend al sharpton is hole holding a rally? sanford, florida, calling for the volunteer's arrest. george zimmerman claims he shot the 17-year-old in self-defense after a confrontation. civil rights leader say the shooting was racially motivated. florida's state attorney says a grand jury will be seated next month to launch a new investigation. last night, the city commission in sanford gave the police chief a vote of no confidence. adding to the pressure for him to resign. we're now learning more about george zimmerman's local connection. zimmerman moved to florida ten years ago, after graduating from osbourne, high school in manassas, virginia, in 2001.

his old neighbor say zimmerman came back to virginia a few year ago, asking for a letter of recommendation to become a police officer. >> i wrote a positive letter, because he was a positive guy in my eyes. i'm shocked. >> people in d.c. will hold a rally in freedom plaza on saturday, demanding for george zimmerman's arrest. right now, prince george's county police need your help in finding a missing teenager. investigators say 15-year-old hollands davis was last seen on dutton way in capital heights, maryland, back on march 7th, the last time she was seen. she hasn't been seen or heard from since. anyone with information on davis should contact the prince george's county police department. federal authorities are investigating what they're calling a shadow campaign for d.c. mayor, vincent gray's 2010 mayoral run. the "washington post" reports the investigation involves money and expenses that may not have been reported by the official gray campaign.

this is part of a year-long federal investigation into claims of job offers and illegal campaign fundraising efforts. mayor gray declined to comment on that investigation. a titan in the breakfast world has died. murray lender, who helped his family's bagel business become a household name passed away yesterday, he was 81. he helped run lender's bagels, along with his brother when their father died a half-century ago. he fell ten weeks ago and died in a miami hospital due to complications from the fall. our time right now, seven minutes after 11:00. still ahead, president barack obama is on the road, talking about his energy policy. we'll hear how he's spending his time speeding up a key project. then republican presidential candidate, mitt romney finds himself at the center of a controversy surrounding a child's toy, we'll explain. [ female announcer ] with xfinity,

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a former nasa scientist will spend 13 years in prison for espionage. a judge sentenced stewart nazette for passing secrets to an fbi agent posing as an israeli spy. the 54-year-old must pay a $217 million fine for tax evasion, the chevy chase man worked for the department of defense and

nasa. he pleaded guilty to providing classified information and pleaded guilty to fraud and to the tax charges. right now, president obama is announcing plans to speed up work on the southern portion of a controversial oil pipeline. here's a live look at where the president will be speaking. i think he's there right now. he's promoting his energy policies in curbing, oklahoma. the policies include support for the southern leg of the keystone pipeline. it will help oil reach refineries along the gulf coast. the president hasn't decided whether to support construction of the entire pipeline, running from canada to texas because of environmental concerns. this morning, a toy is the talk of the race for president. mitt romney is trying to shake off a controversial comment one of his top aides just made about his general election strategy. that aide told a reporter, romney plans on erasing his conservative focus like you shake an etch-a-sketch.

romney's rivals were quick to criticize him, whom they call a fake conservative. >> imagine, had mitt romney been around at the time we were drafting our constitution, he would have just shook it up after it was approved to rewrite it. >> and so here's governor romney's staff. they don't even have the decency to wait until they get the nomination to explain to us how they'll sell us out. >> romney picked up a key endorsement. former florida governor jeb bush is now supporting him. here in the district, women's health advocates brought etch-a-sketches to a mitt romney fundraiser. the massachusetts governor was at the hyatt regency event on new jersey avenue. anger was voiced over romney's pledge to get rid of planned parent hd if he becomes president. a mother duck and her ducklings decided to take up residence at the white house, the duck walked up to one of the

gates. the mom jumped inside but the baby ducks couldn't get over the concrete barrier. when a group of secret service agents put gloves on and helped the ducklings through the gate. the move drew applause from tourists. the ducks were seen resting in the bushes. >> great day for ducks this morning. >> great day for ducks for sure. >> kind of like londontown weather for us. the last two mornings in fact. still a little gray as you saw from the shot. so -- >> more rain coming today? >> well we've had kind of mist more just some isolated showers down to the south and there's a slight possibility that we could see just a little bit more of those isolated showers to the south and west today. but i am still going for this cloud deck to break and the follow to all burn off. look at the monument there in the distance, the washington monument, pretty shot, you know, the fog is not bad to look at. 63 degrees, reason for the fog? a lot of moisture in the air and very little wind to break it up.

wind currently calm, our winds today have been very light, out of the southeast at only around two to five miles per hour. as far as the radar, you can see not a drop to be found on our radar. you zoom down to the south. off the coast of north carolina, some rain and the rain that we've been waiting on, it's moving eastward. the other day, it was in louisiana, just yesterday, producing a lot of flooding there with four to about eight inches of rain. now it's in areas of mississippi, eastern mississippi, western areas of alabama and streaming right towards memphis, to areas around st. louis. you can see the spin with the low in the upper atmosphere here. but again, all moving eastward. i'm not seeing as much rain with the system today. but around here, we could get quite a bit come the weekend. a little bit closer inspection for you. the heaviest right around the gulf of mexico. that's the moisture that will be coming our way again for saturday. especially. here's a look at your future weather, taking you through the

day tomorrow, even. we're still going to be looking at isolated showers, some breaks in the cloud cover. a warmer day tomorrow than we're going to be today. today, upper 70s. tomorrow, low 80s. and here's the rain coming in for saturday. this is a snapshot of saturday morning. showers and storms, probably starting early. that's the shading of yellow and orange that you see. it could be covering much of our area throughout the day saturday. the amounts of the day we're talking about on saturday, one to two inches, there could be locations that get more. i'll step out so you can check out the graphic. moderate to heavy rain, this is for saturday, starting early. head back into the weather wall in just a minute. some thunderstorms and even the possibility of a little bit of severe weather. with an inch and a half to two inches of rain possible. our temperatures today, we're in the 60s, 70s down south, 75 degrees in jacksonville, florida. 70s in cincinnati and chicago at

75 degrees right now. yesterday, they were 87 degrees. it was the eighth day in a row with 80-degree warmth and only the second time ever for the month of march that they've had a temperature so high. your forecast for today? we're partly sunny, break out the shades for later on today. it will be a nice afternoon and evening. 75 to 80 degrees. for your evening? pretty nice as well. it will be pleasant. mild, 65-70 degrees. now your four-day forecast. you're going to see and you'll notice a big difference in what it's going to feel like this winter as we get from the upper 70s to low 80s on friday. much warmer, 20-plus degrees cooler for the weekend. wall the rain around, 67 degrees on saturday, it is going to allow you to break out the jacket. a jacket, not only to keep the rain off, but to stay warm. 67 for saturday, rain is likely for saturday. as far as how much wind we could get, i don't think we'll be getting blasted with wind. but i think we'll see the wind pick up on sunday.

most of the rain with the system will fall throughout the day on saturday. still lingering showers for sunday. and the possibility of again some wind picking up on sunday. we go from 67 on saturday, to 58 degrees on sunday, barbara. and then the early part of next week, a chance to dry out with highs in the upper 50s to around 60 degrees. april looks like it may be starting off more on the wet side and cooler side than where we were for this wild, weird march. >> but showers are we we expect in april, right? >> things are green out there, but we don't want to get in a situation where we have a lack of rain and our deficit right now for march is about an inch and a half. so we could use some rain. >> it seems like we've had some, but not enough. thanks a lot. it is 17 minutes after 11:00 and still ahead on "news4 midday," just in time for spring, we're talking about working outside. workout outside, the park is not just for walking and running, you'll find out. plus it's also a great time to do a little work in the yard.

going to let you know what you can do right now to mike your yard just beautiful.

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that you like on your half of the mattress. don't mess with my side because i'm comfortable. i can adjust mine to my liking and she can do the same. go ahead and switch sides so you can feel what the other side feels like. you're on his side. how does that feel? it's hard. i like my side i like my better, too. side better. this is this is too soft. too hard. why don't we switch back to where you were. i am so glad to be ck. oh, yeah. you can have comfort and you can be in the same bed. there's no debate or no squabble because you can have it your way and i'll have it mine. so we save a lot of marriages. discover the amazing sleep number bed, only at a sleep number store... where during the final days of our semi-annual sleep sale, save $400 to $700 on our most popular bed sets. sale ends march 31st. there are 400 sleep number stores nationwide, where queen mattresses start at just $699. well it is spring, if you haven't noticed and the weather

has been great. which means there's some things that can and should be done in the garden right now. our garden expert, david martin joins us to dish a little dirt about what's going on out there right now. where should we begin? and welcome, good to see you. >> happy spring. what we need to start is if you have anything that needs to be cut or cleaned up, start there. ornamental grasses, that are tired looks, cut them off, clean them out. get the leaves out of your garden. if you have weeds that have started to come up, but they haven't quite set their seed, we want to get some preen down in  there, a weed presentative. you put it down and it keeps the seeds from germinating in your garden. if seeds have already started to sprout, then it's not going to stop those from coming up. but it will stop seeds from germinating in the garden. >> with this kind of weather with everything blooming around, daffodils up, can we start planting things now? >> yes. and with the rain that's going to be coming in this weekend, if

you can get some things in the ground now, you won't have to worry about watering to start with. we have a couple of different things to look at the if you didn't have the opportunity to get tulips into your garden in the fall, stop in your local garden center at johnson's. we have the tulip bulbs that are started and you can take and plant these. this is is a snapdragon, a great flower, great in cool weather, up to the hot weather of summer. give you color all through spring and summer right into the fall. a lot of people will find the snapdragons they put down in the fall have come back through the winter because the winter was so warm with it being the warmest winter we've had. a couple of other things in here to lack at, this is a beautiful flower, ranunculus. you can use it as a cut flower, a nice long stalk on it. >> how long will it grow? >> it will keep going into mid june. it's a good flower for the spring and into mid june. most of the stuff that's in here is what's known as cool season.

it tends to like things a little cooler. but it will tolerate some heat. >> most garden centers around our area will have these now. what about seeds? >> yeah, definitely seeds. start out here. this is a great little kit for kids. this comes in a little biodegradeable egg carton. everything is in the kit for kids to be able to put stuff in. perfect time for seed planting. start your seeds indoors. certain seeds you can sow outdoors, such as your cool-weather vegetables. >> we've presumably passed the freezing, we hope. veronica johnson is saying we shouldn't get any more freezing weather. you can put things in the ground right now? >> yes. and you can get your seeds in. we have a nice lettuce mix. it's a great cool-weather vegetable. >> are lettuces coming in now? >> yes. lettuces, spinaches coming in as well as kale and your green, all your leafy greens are coming in. a perfect time for putting those down. >> what is that here?

>> bud and bloom. a great product that will give a good bump to your plants, great fertilizer, especially for things blooming, it will keep them blooming all season long. >> it's a good time to do tomatoes? >> a little early for tomatoes. i would say start your tomato seeds inside. tomatoes, eggplant peppers, things like that like it hot. >> what about using the bulbs inside the house, the ones that are supposed to give you the perfect light. >> exactly, a grow light, you can use that as far as getting your seeds started. your seeds won't need light to get started. as soon as they get to be an inch tall, you can turn the light on. if you don't have southern or western exposure, that will help things get nice and firm. you've got rosemary. >> a great time for putting in all of your hardy herbs, rosemary, thyme, lavender.

you'll find basil, but i recommend you keep it inside in the evening. >> how often does that have to be watered? >> nice and easy to grow, it likes to dry out with rosemary, if it was in a pot like that, i would check it every three to four days just it make sure it's watered. >> lawns, what should we be doing with the lawns? >> weed and feed. put down your weed preventible along with fertilizer that will help the grass perk up and get past the weeds. >> what about clover? what should you do about that? >> clover you can put down a broad leaf weed prohibitor. scott's has a weed and feed prohibitor. if you have a problem with clover, i recommend you get a specific killer that comes in a liquid form, attach it to the end of your hose, specifically to kill clover. which is also known as oxalys.

>> i expect all the garden centers will bes busine busy wie getting ready for spring. >> david martin, our dirt digger. he dishes the dirt for us. thank you. and 11:26 is the time. coming up next in our next half hour of "news4 midday," tens of thousands of smartphones stolen every year. many victims are beaten, bruised and sent to the hospital. police say there is an easy fix. but something is being held back. we'll tell you what it is. the trees are in full bloom and the festival is in full swing. this year, enter are some new things to help enhance your experience. i'm megan mcgrath with details. plus, could we expect a weekend soaker during the cherry blossom festival?

right now, a woman who is eight months pregnant is in

stable condition, she was stabbed overnight in her southeast washington apartment building. police do not have a suspect in custody, they are also saying very little about the condition of the victim's unborn baby. the suspect in a series of shootings in france that killed three children and four adults is dead. overnight, police report nod signs of life in the apartment where mohammed merah had barricaded himself for 32 hours, when police raided his apartment, merah fired on police and jumped out of a window to his death. two officers were injured in the firefight. we have a special edition of rossen reports, about the growing number of violent robberies of iphones and other cell phones. police say there's a solution, though and they say that the wireless companies won't do their part to help. nbc's national investigative correspondent, jeff rossen has this report on the "today show" this morning. >> police say it's an epidemic and it's only getting worse,

tens of thousands of high-tech cell phones are stolen every year and yes, it gets violent. many victims are beaten, bruised, even hospitalized. authorities say there's an easy fix here. a way to stop these criminals right in their tracks. but they say the wireless companies are blocking it to protect their own profits. san francisco, this unsuspecting woman is about to get robbed. her iphone ripped from her hands. ft. lauderdale, a thief sucker-punches this man, beating him to a pulp. the victim tries to get up, but the robber kicks him back down and makes off with his iphone. and in los angeles, one of the most brutal robberies caught on camera, a man follows this teenaged girl into her apartment lobby, just to snatch her phone. punching her over and over again. but this girl fights back. the crook pushes her against the wall and pummels her. >> i really wanted my phone. i worked hard for it. i was just in this mode where i

was just going to hit him until i got my phone back. >> but he got the phone. and is still on the loose. washington, d.c. police chief kathy lynn ooer sees it every day. this is a big business for thieves. >> it's a huge bifs, the after-market for cell phones is driving the problem. >> she said the wireless industry is putting its profit over your safety. allowing stolen phones to be reactivated later with a different phone number. yes, that's right, in most cases black market buyers are even the thieves themselves, can still buy service on that stolen phone. which means the wireless companies keep making money. >> what is your message for the wireless industry? >> shame on you. this is something that's fixable. it's not all about profit. >> now, nearly 70 big-city police chiefs are banding together. sending this letter to federal officials. that there's an easy solution, a fix. that would cut these violent

robberies. here's how it would cork. every cell phone has its unique i.d. or fingerprint. once the phone is reported stolen, it would be blacklisted in the u.s. wireless companies from verizon to at&t, t-mobile to sprint would share information. banning service on that stolen phone on all carriers forever. >> it becomes a brick, it's useless, there's no profit any more. when you take that profit away, there's no motivation to stick a gun in somebody's face and take their phone. >> but police say the wireless companies won't do it. >> it's crazy. it's insane. >> it's a problem and why are we helping the criminals? >> we reached out to the wireless giants. sprint said it's open to discuss. the others simply directed us to an industry spokesman. so that's where we went. >> the police chief here in d.c. said this is about money. >> well, it's a money lose anywhere a lot of respects. >> nearly 70 major police department chiefs say thisses is the solution, this would cut

crime. i as a consumer say, why not just try it? >> we want to make sure whatever we put in place works. and it's effective. and it is comprehensive. >> but the technology already exists. they've been doing it in the uk for a decade. and in australia, too. where authorities say it's working. smartphone robberies are down. the industry's response? let's wait, it's not even worth trying. until every country joins in. >> let's make sure we get for example, mexican service providers. central american, south american, african, chinese. >> why not start with the u.s.? why not take the first step and fix it here? >> i think the larger problem, the bigger problem overseas. >> but police say americans will keep getting beaten and robbed as long as the wireless industry continues to drag its feet. >> there are lives at stake here. this is a deadly situation, it needs to be rectified. and it needs to be rectified

immediately. >> the federal communications commission is investigating the issue and police say it's just in the nick of time. cell phone thefts continue to grow at an alarming rate to give you an idea of how bad it is on the street, authorities say a stolen cell foen gophone goes f than a vial of pcp. this marks 100 years since the cherry blossoms arrived to d.c. as a gift from japan. news4's megan mcgrath is live at the tidal basin with more. >> reporter: because of the 100-year anniversary, the cherry blossom festival has been extended, it's now five weeks long. and there are just a lot of events, a lot of businesses that are doing things as well. it's kind of hard to keep it all straight. so the national park service is going high-tech, they've released a free app that will help you sort everything out. you'll figure out what's going on and where, and they have some pretty cool new signs they've unveiled this year. so you can actually learn a

thing or two about the cherry trees while you stroll along. for many, a trip to see the cherry blossoms is an annual ritual. >> i'm a native waeshingtonian, lived here most of my life. i've loved it, it's a beautiful occasion. >> this year, visitors will notice something different -- special signs have been placed along the tidal basin, allowing visitors to take self-guided educational tours. >> i think they're a great idea. education is always a good thing. >> reporter: this sign talks about how scientists have created clones of the original trees, so when one dies, it can be replaced by a genetically identical tree. another sign gives the history of the cherry blossom festival. >> you can't have park rangers at every single tree. it's nice to have that information available. >> i learned a lot in the past 20 minutes being out here. >> reporter: also new this year, a free cherry blossom app for your phone. you can look up events and come up with a personal schedule.

if you're a foodie, you can also check out the cherry-inspired specials at local restaurants. and helping the visitors enjoy the festival to the fullest isn't just a nice thing to do. it also makes good economic sense. all the folks that are coming here to washington, d.c. for the festival, they are spending millions of dollars. now, on a side note, i found this sort of amusing. remember about ten years or so ago, when there was an actual beaver that was eating and chomping down the cherry trees during the festival? take a look at this video -- he is now a reformed critter. can you see he has become the mascot here. in fact he's part of a campaign to encourage folks not to pick the blossoms off the trees. not to pick the branches. he's actually handing out these little buttons to the kids here down along the tidal basin and posing with photo opes. i had a little company with him and he said he's fully reformed and has no plans to damage the trees this year.

reporting live from the tidal basin, megan mcgrath, news4. >> that's wonderful, i like that new app for the phone, terrific. >> reporter: and it's so easy to use, it's very cool. >> great, thanks so much. enjoy yourself out there. you've got a great assignment today, all week. >> reporter: be a absolutely mixt kids are coming down. >> they should, it's just beautiful. we'll check in again with veronica with the latest on our forecast to see what she has to say about this being a good day to head down to the trees. >> it will be a good day, because as i look o the window at news4, i'm seeing some sunshine. earlier today, the fog was thick. jim looked out his window and said, i'm going to take a picture and send it in. weather@nbcwashington.com to get it to us. look at how foggy it was, you could barely see some of the homes in the neighborhood. as far as where we are right now, some sunshine coming through. we're warming up, 63 here in d.c. look at west virginia.

now in the 70s, 72 in elkins. 75 in charleston and 71 in roanoke. that's the warm air that's edging this way. on the satellite and radar loop, the clouds are thinning for areas of western pennsylvania and right there through west virginia and coming into this area. we should be looking at partly sunny skies later today. your high, 75 in gaithersburg. manassas up to 77 and 71 in annapolis. those locations near the water, low 70s. those spots to the south and west, low 80s and right in between, upper 70s. meanwhile, as far as the weekend goes, again we're talking about some very wet conditions around here. so enjoy. today enjoy your evening. the sky is going to clear a bit as we max out at 77 degrees today. we see temperatures drop to the upper 60s by 11:00. coming up in a couple of minutes, another look at the seven-day forecast.

and a local running total of some of the rain that we could see around here by sunday. i'll have that in just a few. we just heard from our dirt guy that this is a great day to get out and plant things because the rain is coming and you won't have to water that much. and today, a new community garden will be planted in the district. the new people's garden will break ground at 16th and irving streets northwest in the columbia heights neighborhood. it's part of the people's garden initiative launched by agricultural secretary tom vilsack back in 2009. it encourages communities to create gardens to help the environment and to bring residents together as well. the garden will include flowers, fruits and vegetables. and starting on saturday, maryland residents will have a new area koetd to memorize, the area code 667 will be added to 16 counties, including anne arundel, calvert and howard counties. only new customers will get the new area code and it will not

change in rates. and it's time to move your exercise routine outside. our fitness experts steve hayes, has been giving us different exercises of exercise options we have in our area. today he's taking us outside to the park. >> yes. >> you found a way to exercise without going to one of the indoor gyms, tell us about it. >> i was in rock creek park with fitness instructor samantha wright. we decided we would take it outside and enjoy the workout outside, show everyone what we can do. >> you always tell us that running is a good idea. >> or walking fast. going up, pumping those arms. >> when running you don't advocate running long distances necessarily, just big bursts. >> a nice burst. and again, the same thing, when you're walking, you can walk fast like that. again it makes you embrace your abdominals, core, legs, arms, everything. >> and it's also really good for

getting your heart rate up. >> it gets the heart rate up, oh yes. >> besides running, walking, those things you did some pull-ups out there? >> we did three types of pull-ups. i did one, as a matter of fact this one we're doing the tricep dip that allows you to work the back part of the arms. that works. you you're using core when you're doing that, also. but again you're out in the park. no excuses for anyone not to work out. it doesn't cost you anything but just having some fun going outside. >> there are a lot of these stations around rock creek park, at least two or three places. >> all over and many more that we haven't even done yet. >> you did those pull-ups. what about exercises for the abs? >> for the abdominals. we did sit-ups, you have the sit-up board at the park that allows you to do them at many different angles, go flat or pull yourself up from an angle. it allows you to have a great ab workout. >> as you see i have her reaching up.

that make you work your lower abdominal. as she does that, we go back to the one where she's holding down, holding onto the side and bringing her whole body. that allows you to work the total abdominal more than that. >> that's something we need to be doing to get ready for bathing suit season. there are several different stations. >> yes. >> should you plan on going through the whole set? how long will that take you? >> you can go through the whole set, or pick two or three to do. normally 15 to 20 minutes, that's all you need. >> at each station, how long should you plan? >> probably about five minutes on each station. >> so three. >> here are the pull-ups, we're doing three different versions. the first version she was doing it on her own this one, i'm giving her a slight boost and here, that's me doing them showing once you have elevated to another point, you can do them by yourself.

>> that's a good thing to do. you say get your lungs filled with nice fresh air and mentally you're prepared. >> do you have a nutrition tip? >> dealing with the pollen and the allergies. a nice nutritional tip. opals, oranges and onions, the three anti-oxidants to use to help you alleviate the discomfort of the pollen. especially the onions. >> that will help, huh? >> yes, the onions, i've been using them. >> well you can cook them or you can just take and squeeze a little bit and let it go up in the nostril. it will clear the nostril out. >> the eyes will be watering. >> that's the secret behind it. >> thank you, steve hayes. the hayesway.com. and it is 11:44. still ahead, we'll tell you about a hot

[ mom ] to me, chex is not just a little bowl of cereal, it's kind of a big deal. to find nutritious and gluten-free cereals my whole family actually loves? well, the word "wow" comes to mind. and then a friend told me chex has five flavors that are gluten-free. even a cinnamon one the kids love. a nutritious cereal that makes everybody happy? like i said, wow. [ male announcer ] chex cereal. five flavors. good and gluten free. is it might be cheaper to own a home than to rent.

let's check in with cnbc's courtney reagan. she joins us live with more and the rest of the day's business headlines. >> good morning, barb raxt stocks are lower today, the dow is off about 82 points as i look over this morning. on fresh concerns about the global economy. partly to blame because data showing that manufacturing activity is slowing in parts of europe and china. and that worries the global market. as for those global markets, asian stocks were mixed. europe in the red, affecting us too. but there are a number of positive economic news. here notice united states, jobless claims for unemployment benefits fell 5,000 to the lowest level in four years. and according to federal housing finance agency, home prices were flat in january, compared with a month earlier. which is relatively good news, if you consider it a sign of stabilization. it may be cheaper to buy instead of renting a home. real estate sites say in 98 of the top 100 u.s. markets, buying

is much more affordable. home prices are still falling for the most part. mortgage rates are near historic lows and rents are rising. so that said, many renters aren't in a position to buy because it is still hard to qualify for a mortgage these days, even if the rates are low. and starbucks is getting into energy drinks. the company's new line, called refreshers is targeting the $8 billion u.s. market dominated by the likes ever red bull, monday star and rock star. made with a flavorless extract of green, unroasted coffee and a mix of fruit juice, less caffeine than coffee drinks made with roasted beans. i'm going to have to try it and then i'll decide. it doesn't sound particularly appetizing to me. i think i'll go with the coffee. >> tell us what you think after you taste it. >> thanks a lot. courtney. in this week's wednesday's child, we meet a young boy who had the opportunity to the other

day to go to the circus. anthony is delightful boy whose language skills may be delayed. but he still found a way to show how much he loved his special day. >> yeah, we're going to have fun. >> it was anthony's day at the circus. but before we took our seats in the stands, anthony wanted a chance to see what was going on before the big show began. and being a curious 7-year-old, anthony wanted a closer look. he's a pretty blaf guy, he walked right past one of the giant elephants. sized her up and just kept going. but who could resist asia the elephant? anthony decided to back up for a closer look. >> have you ever seen an elephant before? >> dustin the clown offered to introduce anthony, who had never been this close to a real giant elephant and he proved he wasn't afraid when he was willing to give asia a little treat. >> unfortunately anthony has been in foster care for most ever his very young life and we're just hoping we can get someone to come forward to care for him and help him progress

into a better life. >> anthony still has a lot of growing up to do before he can fit into these clothes. >> the greatest show on earth. >> the ringmaster welcomed anthony. a clown showed him how to juggle. >> he's not very verbal, very affectionate. loves to give hugs, likes to play with soft colorful animals. >> got a big prize to take home from the circus, soft and cuddly. a mommy and daddy would be the perfect ones for giving some hugs back to anthony. if you have room in your home and your heart for anthony, call our special adoption hotline. or you can log on it our home page at nbcwashington.com. our time, 11:51. coming up, we'll help you plan out a fun weekend of eating, dancing and blossom-watching. and we'll be back with another

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there's a lot going on around town this weekend. including cherry blossom viewing, if the weather isn't too bad. we have the reporter from the "washington post" joins us with creative ideas. good morning, good to see you. >> let's start with, let's make friday the start of the weekend. and we're going to start with some great food. you say that you can get at the embassy of france? >> this weekend we're seeing a lot of international events,

including the frank festival. a festival that celebrates the cultures of all the countries that are french-speaking. it will feerl 35 embassies serving up their culinary treats. tickets about $55 for vips, that's all that's left. there's a big party with a dance floor and deejay. >> on saturday, there's a great place to do a little salsa dancing, right? >> a new place, el centro df, no cover charge. folks are lining up. you want to get there before 11:00 p.m. doors open at 11:00. after you're done dancing you can go and eat. they have the kitchen open until 2:00 a.m. >> that sounds fantastic. let's move on to sunday. you say that you could even make a night trip to see the cherry

blossoms. are they lit up? >> they're called lantern walks, you come and everyone with take flashlights and lanterns and see the cherry blossoms right after dusk. if you've seen the blossoms a million times like so many of us locals have. led by a park ranger and they kick off this weekend. they start at 8:00 p.m. >> we're looking at some shots from the dark there. >> the lantern walk. >> it starts at 8:00 p.m. >> thank you. for more ideas on your weekend, can you log on to washington.com, nbcwashington.com or the going out guide on "washington post".com. we're going to take a look at some stories we'll be following for you on news4 this afternoon. first at 4:00, no one likes to serve jury duty, but we'll tell you about that and how you might be able to get out of it? i don't think so. i don't think that's quite it. she confessed to lying to the

judge to get out of a jury duty. now she's being arrested. she's fighting back. we'll tell you what happened. and tonight at 5:00, how long should appliances and home improvement products last? liz crenshaw has the answers in an all-new liz quiz. those are great things coming up tonight on news4 at 4:00 and 5:00. time for a final check on the forecast. >> the sun is coming through now, we've got a temperature of 64 degrees. no weather problems today on tomorrow. it's going to be plenty warm. but saturday, some thunderstorms and by sunday morning, you're looking at the amount of rain we could see, an inch and a half to two and a half inches of rain around the area. i don't think we're going do see any moderate or major flooding. but we could see some minor flooding in spots. for this afternoon, 75-80 degrees, just fine and a pleasant evening at that. but the weekend, not only is it going to be wet this weekend, it is going to be much cooler as we go from 77 today, 83 on friday, 67 for a high on saturday.

and again, very wet, it's going to be a soaker. probably a watchout for saturday. 58 on sunday. a bit chilly, you'll need the jacket if it's windy at all. >> right now there's going to be some wind around on sunday. >> a great day tomorrow? >> great day tomorrow. thanks a lot. that's "news4 midday" for today. we thank you for being with us and invite you to tune in to news tonight at 4:00, 5:00, 6:00 and 11:00. until then, get out and have a terrific day. [ female announcer ] with xfinity,

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